When I was 10 years old, the coach of my summer softball team spoke to me some of the most heartening words I have ever heard. “You have been chosen to be on the All-Star team. And the other coaches and I have been talking, and we want you to be the starting pitcher.” It just doesn’t get much better… Read more »
During the heyday of the Roman Empire, the word of the paterfamilias – the primary male in a local household – was law. Roman households could exceed 100 individuals, including the paterfamilias and his wife, their children and grandchildren, various servants and slaves, and others who found it economically expedient for one reason or another to live under the same… Read more »
During the heart of the Depression, American folklorist John Jacob Niles was sampling original music of Appalachian hill folk. While passing through the rustic town of Murphy, North Carolina, in July 1933, Niles paused to attend a revivalist rally. The Morgan family, traveling revivalists, had been in town for a few days. They had no money and no place to… Read more »